In 2007, the co-founders of IMPACT Japan began organizing cross-fertilizing programs such as the Global Entrepreneurship Week Japan (in association with the Kauffman Foundation) and TEDxTokyo (in association with Technology, Entertainment, Design – TED), and immediately realized that there was a hunger for a locally and globally connected platform in Japan. IMPACT Japan thus took the initiative and decided to establish this needed platform in order to nurture nascent abilities and strengths – the catalysts that will create the next generation of products, companies, industries and leaders.

By establishing a platform that develops an entrepreneurial culture and mindset, IMPACT Japan is able to effectively address Japan’s challenges in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. Additionally, through the support of an ecosystem that encourages experimentation and the opportunity to learn from mistakes, this platform will also provide greater access to intelligent capital and a wide range of professional sectors and services.

By joining the IMPACT Community, IMPACT members will immediately be able to plug into a collaborative, globally-minded, outstanding community of innovators, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, influences, and early adopters from diverse backgrounds and specialties. Members are naturally encouraged to take part in as many activities as possible and maximize the benefits of having the support of an effective ecosystem.

Simultaneously, IMPACT Japan hopes that members will be inspired to contribute their own skills and assets to the ecosystem, as invigorated members of the largest source of entrepreneurship and innovation in Japan. This is the IMPACT Cycle, created for agents of change with an entrepreneurial mindset and offering them the new 21st century, real-world educational experience and the occasion to “give back”.

Just as entrepreneurship is a mind-set which can benefit and be developed by any individual – regardless of age, profession, or skills – the IMPACT ecosystem and platform thrive through the additional value brought by anyone who is committed to making sustainable and effective change in Japan and the globe.

The diagram above demonstrates what the life of students, for example, would be like once they join our community. Students may choose to participate in the HCJI-LAB Summer school program. Eventually, students will perhaps take the opportunity to study abroad, or they may also choose to start-up their own business. At this point the IMPACT Community will continue to provide the necessary support through various programs, such as the Study Abroad Scholarship or Start-up Weekend.

Once students have graduated from all these programs and experiences, they will have cultivated leadership skills, and be self-motivated, entrepreneurial thinkers. Ideally, they will also decide to start a program, host an event, or offer new students internships at their established businesses, thereby fully completing the IMPACT cycle.

IMPACT Japan has established an ecosystem and platform that together assist individuals and organizations in their efforts to amplify their impact. In the process of establishing the IMPACT platform and ecosystem four themes were considered, as indicated above.

IMPACT Japan believes that by focussing on these areas it will not only help alleviate Japan’s difficulties with fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, but that by doing so it will successfully address many of Japan’s most pressing economic and social issues. Therefore, IMPACT Japan will assist collaborators and develop programs that will address these themes in the most effective way and invite them to join its ecosystem and expand its platform.

Constituted of a diverse range of effective programs, events, and projects, the IMPACT platform is a space where entrepreneurial success is celebrated, research leads to development, ideas are turned into action, and where innovative and globally orientated education is provided — thus facilitating the development of a truly entrepreneurial culture. Examples of such programs and events are Global Entrepreneurship Week Japan, the Harvard College Japan initiative, and TEDxTokyo.

IMPACT collaborators are key individuals and organizations that span business, academia, government, and the citizen sectors in Japan and the world. Comprised of the vast network of all of IMPACT Japan’s collaborators who power the projects, events, and programmes, the ecosystem stands to support the IMPACT platform. The ecosystem enables IMPACT collaborators to remain connected and continue projects into the long-term, whilst retaining access to a curated set of leading edge resources, learning programs, projects, mentors, leadership skills, business innovation, business collaboration, networking opportunities on a global scale, scholarships, mentorships, incubation, design thinking and education through real-world experiences – for all age groups and sectors.

The argument that IMPACT Japan posits here is that individuals and organizations ought not to be isolated. Instead, by being synergised and by being part of an environment that nurtures mutual support and benefits, new members to the IMPACT ecosystem will quickly find that their goals are accelerated, their ideas further developed, and that their passion and perseverance are mirrored in the collaborative efforts of high quality community.

The entrepreneurial culture and mindset, which we are developing in Japan, is supported by our all-inclusive IMPACT ecosystem. Just as entrepreneurship is a mind-set which can benefit and be developed by any individual – regardless of age, profession, or skills – our ecosystem will thrive through the value added by anyone who is committed to making sustainable and effective change in Japan and the globe.

As the chart above indicates, we are affiliated with multiple programs that address a wide variety of themes and key age groups. Thanks to their eagerness to collaborate and progress together, our curated platform already has many events and opportunities to offer in our thriving ecosystem. Through synergy and by being part of an environment that nurtures mutual support and benefits, individuals and organizations can have exposure to a wider range of opportunities and fields.

New members quickly find that through the IMPACT ecosystem, their goals are accelerated, their ideas further developed, and that their passion and perseverance are mirrored in the collaborative efforts of high quality community. By combining strengths, weaknesses are addressed; by being adaptable, the ecosystem will always be able to respond to current issues and provide innovative support.